Naraly wrote in post #15603506
Ok so definitely get rid of the harsh lines. I made a curvier NR, and picked a different font for the "photography". Still not sure if photography should be this size or smaller compared to NR?
Here it is:
Kind of don't like the dot.. but people I've showed it to said keep it. (& sorry I forgot to crop out the white space on top)
My reason for not paying to get one professionally done right now is that I don't have a photography business, the only "clients" I have is friends and family but it's only like one or two shoots a month that I'm doing. Sometimes none. I love photography but I don't have enough time to dedicate into turning it into a business, but I thought having a logo would be a good start to just put a name on my photographs and let people know what I do. I don't know, I just thought it was a good idea. Since I don't have a specific target market yet, I feel getting a professionally made logo is for when I know who I'm aiming for. I just do a little bit of "everything" right now, so not aiming my focus to a specific direction yet.
I do want to do more paid shoots, but I think my clients will be from the same "family and friends and friends of friends" circle.
Is this just a bad idea and I don't need a logo?
Logo is only as important as you make it, really.
I find that I can speak with a little bit of experience now that I'm at it a few years (though obviously i'm not "all-knowing, all-powerful", etc. so take my advice with the grain of salt it deserves).
I find that having a logo from day one, if you have any intention of trying to progress forward, is a good thing, because people get used to seeing it and it helps lodge in people's heads.
I started off with just doing family, then a few friends. But these people were putting their photos on Facebook and my logo was changing every time (I went through a fair few) so although lots of different people on Facebook were seeing my photos, they didn't know it was the same person doing them all.
This is good or bad, depending on how you feel about your work. If you think your stuff now is average at best and will improve significantly over time, then changing logo later on may help (as you don't want people to associate you with a poorer quality of work than you hope to later achieve).
However, if you feel you're very proud of your work and it's at a strong level, then having a single logo can help re-enforce this image as you go forward.
Getting a pro to do your logo is good as well because they generally show it off, too (and that means all of their Facebook friends/customers see your logo/name on the designers page). My logo design was relatively inexpensive (I can pass on the details if you wish to message me, but it was great value I got, in my opinion) but i got two separate people contacting me because of the designer putting my link/site/logo on their page.
A small thing, but it worked.
In saying that, I think your improved logo looks quite good, now, anyway. A massive improvement over the first one you have in your opening post. The only downside i can see is that it has no 'design', in that, if you were printing a portfolio or showing off your work in a place where people already know you're the photographer, I think it can look better just having the design (and no text).
This is why, on facebook, my name is on my photos, but on my own website, i just use the logo itself without text (I think it looks drastically better, and if you're on my site, you already know who took the photos anyway).
That's just personal opinion, though.
I'm not crazy about your logo, to be honest. It seems very generic, to me, personally. However, I must comment on the series of photos on your home page: They're absolutely phenomenal! Shockingly good series of photographs.